Evaluation in Text Authorial Stance and the Construction of Discourse

by Hunston, Susan; Thompson, Geoff

• ISBN13: 9780198299868
• ISBN10: 0198299869
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-02-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This is an accessible and wide-ranging account of current research in one of the most central aspects of discourse analysis: evaluation in and of written and spoken language.Evaluation is the broad cover term for the expression of a speaker's - or writer's - attitudes, feelings, and values. It covers areas sometimes referred to as 'stance', 'modality', 'affect', or 'appraisal'. Evaluation (a) expresses the speaker's opinion and thus reflects the value-system of thatperson and their community; (b) constructs relations between speaker and hearer (or writer and reader); and (c) plays a key role in how discourse is organized. Every act of evaluation expresses and contributes to a communal value-system, which in turn is a component of the ideology that lies behindevery written or spoken text. Conceptually, evaluation is comparative, subjective, and value-laden. In linguistic terms it may be analysed lexically, grammatically, and textually. These themes and perspectives are richly exemplified in the chapters of this book, by authors aware and observant of thefact that processes of linguistic analysis are themselves inherently evaluative.The editors open the book by introducing the field and provide separate, contextual introductions to each chapter. They have also collated the references into one list, itself a valuable research guide. The exemplary perspectives and analyses presented by the authors will be of central interest toeveryone concerned with the analysis of discourse, whether as students of language, literature, or communication. They also have much to offer students of politics and culture.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	x
Evaluation: An Introduction	1	(27)
Geoff Thompson
Susan Hunston
What do we Mean by Evaluation?	1	(5)
Why is Evaluation Important?	6	(7)
How do we Recognize Evaluation?	13	(7)
Evaluation, Grammar, and Lexis	20	(2)
Parameters of Evaluation	22	(4)
About this Book	26	(2)
Persuasive Rhetoric in Linguistics: A Stylistic Study of Some Features of the Language of Noam Chomsky	28	(10)
Michael Hoey
Editors' Introduction	28	(1)
Chomsky as Rhetorician	29	(2)
Evaluating Claims	31	(4)
Evaluating Opponents	35	(2)
Conclusion	37	(1)
Corpus-Based Analysis of Evaluative Lexis	38	(18)
Joanna Channell
Editors' Introduction	38	(1)
Introduction	39	(1)
Approach	39	(2)
Data	41	(1)
Method	41	(1)
Examples	41	(13)
Discussion and Conclusions	54	(2)
Adverbial Marking of Stance in Speech and Writing	56	(18)
Susan Conrad
Douglas Biber
Editors' Introduction	56	(1)
Introduction	57	(1)
Characteristics of Adverbial Stance Markers	58	(4)
Patterns of Use for Adverbial Stance Markers	62	(11)
Conclusion	73	(1)
A Local Grammar of Evaluation	74	(28)
Susan Hunston
John Sinclair
Editors' Introduction	74	(1)
Introduction	75	(1)
Grammars, Local Grammars, and Sub-languages	75	(5)
The Local Grammar of Definitions	80	(2)
Local Grammar and Evaluation	82	(2)
Identifying and Parsing Evaluation: Some Examples	84	(7)
How Adjectives Behave	91	(6)
Refining the Patterns: Prepositional Phrases	97	(1)
A Nuisance Revisited	97	(3)
Conclusions	100	(2)
Evaluating Evaluation in Narrative	102	(19)
Martin Cortazzi
Lixian Jin
Editors' Introduction	102	(1)
Introduction	103	(1)
Evaluation in Narrative	104	(3)
Evaluation Devices	107	(2)
Evaluation of Narrative	109	(2)
Evaluation of Narrative in Different Cultures	111	(3)
Evaluation through Narrative	114	(2)
Evaluation in, of, and through Narrative	116	(2)
Evaluation: Narrative Research and Life	118	(1)
Conclusions	119	(2)
Evaluation and Organization in Text: The Structuring Role of Evaluative Disjuncts	121	(21)
Geoff Thompson
Jianglin Zhou
Editors' Introduction	121	(1)
Introduction	122	(3)
Disjuncts as Cohesive Signals	125	(14)
Conclusion	139	(3)
Beyond Exchange: APPRAISAL Systems in English	142	(34)
J. R. Martin
Editors' Introduction	142	(1)
Beyond NEGOTIATION	143	(2)
Modelling APPRAISAL	145	(3)
AFFECT	148	(7)
JUDGEMENT	155	(4)
APPRECIATION	159	(6)
Negotiating Solidarity	165	(10)
Re/appraisal	175	(1)
Evaluation and the Planes of Discourse: Status and Value in Persuasive Texts	176	(32)
Susan Hunston
Editors' Introduction	176	(1)
Introduction	177	(1)
Exploring Complexity in Evaluation	178	(6)
Status and Value on the Interactive Plane	184	(11)
Status and Value on the Autonomous Plane	195	(7)
Back to Theory	202	(3)
Conclusion	205	(1)
Appendix: The Text WNSE	206	(2)
References	208	(13)
Index	221